


It's All Fun And Games (Until Someone Gets Hurt)

by cresswells



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bickering, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Love/Hate, Romance, Romantic Friendship, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-17
Updated: 2012-08-17
Packaged: 2017-11-12 08:47:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/488994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswells/pseuds/cresswells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's a game to them. They taunt and tease and try not to care. But she can't help it. In the end, she always resorts to nastiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's All Fun And Games (Until Someone Gets Hurt)

She thinks he's a little prick when she first meets him.

They're just kids, both eleven years old. She's lugging her dad's aged trunk through the train, trying to find the compartment Al yelled he'd found. She grumbles, swears and pants, but the blasted thing still won't move in the right direction.

"Need a hand?"

The voice is unfamiliar and it's right behind her ear. She yelps, jumping about three feet in the air and stumbling back when she lands. Her right foot connects with the heavy trunk and she gasps in pain. By the time she spins on her heel to see the cause of her fright, she's already in a dismal mood.

She glares, eyes narrowing when she recognises him from Platform 9¾. He smiles meekly back at her.

"You're the Malfoy boy," she states. She doesn't try to disguise her contempt. She's angry – furious, in fact – and it's taking enough effort to put on a brave face because her foot hurts like hell.

"Er… yeah," he says, ducking his head. Rose has often prided herself on being able to stare down even the most fearsome of opponents.

"What do you want?"

He narrows his eyes in disdain, lips curling into a sneer at her words. "I only... oh, never mind."

She appraises him. He's short – shorter than her. She's always been abnormally tall for her age – she takes after her father in that respect. He's as pale as she is, only without the freckles. So pale in fact, he could be a ghost for all she knew, with his whitewashed features. His blonde hair is slicked back and he leans against the nearest compartment with an air of arrogant superiority.

But there's something odd about the Malfoy boy. Something that doesn't quite match up with what she'd expected after hearing so much about his family from her father.

And then it hits her.

He can't quite look her in the eye.

Rose finds this suspicious – after all, her father had warned her how devious the Malfoys could be. And if he was as proud and stuck-up as his father, surely he'd have no problem matching her glare with one of his own. She's just about to call him out on it when an unfortunate interruption arrives in the form of her cousin.

"Rose?" Al pokes his head into view. He's peering out of the very compartment Scorpius Malfoy is leaning against. "You coming in or not?"

The pieces click into place. "You can't be serious," she grumbles. "You're sharing a compartment with this little prick?"

Scorpius emits a stupid outraged splutter behind her. She ignores him.

Al shrugs. "Everywhere else was full. And since our fathers know each other – "

"Your father hates Draco Malfoy," Rose reminds him.

"Yeah," Al intercedes, "But I reckon my dad would want me to choose my own friends. You know – put their old feuds behind us."

Rose rolls her eyes. This is typical of Albus. He's too sensitive, that's his problem. She looks back at Scorpius, willing to bet anything that he's about to say or do something cruel to undermine her cousin's words, but to her surprise he seems to be considering the idea. He glances at Rose and their eyes meet. His are grey. They dart almost instantly away from hers.

"Actually," Scorpius says, raising his hand, "I think I'd like that."

Albus grins. The two boys enthusiastically shake hands and Rose can't help but sigh.

She has a feeling this'll be a decision they'll all remember for years to come.

* * *

"Penny for your thoughts, Rosie."

The words are whispered in her ear and although the voice is familiar, it startles her to hear him so close. She yelps, jumping about three feet in the air and stumbling back when she lands. This time, her feet collide with his. He grunts, but for once doesn't snap at her.

"Scorpius?" she asks incredulously. "What on earth are you doing here?"

He ignores her question. He flops into a chair behind him, rubbing his sore foot as wedding guests swarm around them. "Ouch. I suppose I should've expected that," he mutters. "Always so skittish."

"I'm not skittish," Rose snaps, instantly on edge. "I should try sneaking up on you one day – see how _you_ like it."

"Oh, I doubt he'd mind."

Rose jumps again and they both look up to see the third side of their unconventional trio, Albus Potter, grinning down at them.

"Oh joy," Rose says sarcastically. "I suppose this," – she waves a hand in Scorpius' direction – "has something to do with you, Albus?"

"Pleasure's all mine."

"I didn't say it was a pleasure."

"That's why it's all mine." Albus grins. Scorpius rolls his eyes at the pair of them. Rose pouts – it's not often she's beaten in a game of wits.

"What are you doing here?" Scorpius asks Albus now. "I thought you were going to ask Averna to dance?"

Albus blushes. "Give me time. I'm working my way up to it."

"And she's working her way through a steady flow of dancing partners," Scorpius counters. Sure enough, Rose can see the pretty Hufflepuff girl Albus has been so enamoured with for the past few years. She's on the dance floor, smiling at a dark-haired boy. As Albus cranes his neck to look over the throng of wedding guests, she realises it's his brother, James.

"Oh, no," Albus mutters, sprinting off in their direction. Rose grins. James' teasing had recently increased tenfold with the newfound knowledge of Albus' crush. Maybe this is just the push he needs to finally make a move, she thinks.

She takes a seat beside Scorpius. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you here. Did Al invite you?"

"Actually," says Scorpius snidely, "I invited myself. Told the groom I was your plus one. Hope you don't mind."

She punches him playfully on the arm.

"Ow! Save that for the Quidditch Pitch!" he yelps ruefully. "Mind you, it's good to see you've not lost your skill as a Beater."

"You didn't honestly tell my cousin Fred that I invited you?"

"Nope. Just teasing." He grins. "You were right the first time – Al invited me."

"Well it's good to see you, anyway," Rose says without thinking. Because it's true – as much as she likes to bicker with Scorp and Al, she always misses them during the summer. Sure, she gets to see Al quite often, but it's never the same without Scorpius.

Scorpius clears his throat awkwardly. "Er... yeah. You too."

The noise of the celebration around them suddenly feels deafening.

"So," says Scorpius. "Let's hear it then. I'm sure you're dying to rub your eleven 'Outstanding' OWLs in my face – "

"Ten," she mutters.

Scorpius' grin drops slightly. "You're kidding!"

She shakes her head. "Nope. Got an 'Acceptable' in Arithmancy."

"Oh. Well, congrats anyway. Guess this proves you really are a mere mortal like the rest of us – "

She lifts her arm again, but he's anticipated the blow this time and blocks it easily. "Really, Rosie," he drawls teasingly. "Must you always resort to physical violence?"

"With you?" she retorts. "Yes. I must."

He smirks at her, still holding her arm in midair. His grey eyes stare down into hers. He's not as shy as he once was.

"I guess a dance is out of the question?" he asks.

"You guess correctly."

"Even for me?" He pouts. She can't help but laugh. Scorp hadn't always been this flirtatious. It all began in their third year. Many things had changed that year. Scorpius and Al had both shot up over the summer and now they towered over her. Al had started gazing wistfully over at the Hufflepuff table – a development they now finally understood. And the banter she and Scorpius were so familiar with had begun to change. Every sentence seemed loaded with implications. Implications which had grown less subtle with every passing year.

Now, almost three years on, conversations like this are second nature for both of them.

"Even for you," she tells him firmly.

"Pity," he counters. "Say, you didn't answer me earlier. What was it you were thinking about?"

"Hmm?"

"When I found you. Seemed like you were staring into space."

"Oh," says Rose. "I was thinking about the day we met, actually. D'you remember Al trying to force us to be civil toward each other?"

Scorpius grins at the fond memory. "I remember him trying to force _you_ to be civil toward me. And I remember being absolutely terrified of you."

She kicks him. "Liar."

"No, it's true!" he insists. "You don't realise how intimidating you can be, Rosie – 'specially back then. You were clever and pretty and completely hostile. In other words? Terrifying."

Pretty? It's such an innocent word, but Rose knows her cheeks are flushing despite her carefully composed poker face. This is part of the game. They're both wondering who will crack first.

She can't help it. In the end, she always resorts to nastiness.

"You were anything but intimidating to me," she says with a cruel laugh. "A bumbling little boy hiding behind his good looks and his daddy's riches. Too scared to look a pretty girl in the eye."

Scorpius is quiet for a moment, but he eventually shrugs it off as he's always shrugged off her taunts before. "Give it a break, Rosie. I'm trying to be nice. No need to bite my head off."

She's about to retort, but something in his tone suggests to her that he's not quite as laid-back in this moment as he'd like to appear. Perhaps conversations like these are as frightening for him as they are for her. Because no matter how much they might joke about the tension she knows they both feel, the thought of actually admitting her feelings terrifies her.

"Sorry," she says. "If it's any consolation, I was a little intimidated of you back then. I just don't like to show it."

He smiles sadly. "Yeah. You're a pro at keeping your true feelings under wraps, Rose."

She's blushing again, but this time she makes no attempt to hide it. Instead, she does something she's always wanted to do, but never initiated before. She reaches for his hand and squeezes it gently.

They share a shy smile.

"You know," he says carefully, "if you're not going to dance with me, you could at least give me some sort of consolation prize."

"Oh? And what do you have in mind?"

He raises his eyebrows deviously. "One kiss?"

"Nice try, Malfoy. Smooth, even. But don't push your luck."

He laughs. And just like that, the tension's gone again. They're just Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy.

It'll be back soon. She knows it will be. Whenever she attempts to deflect moments like this, they only come back again, even stronger than before.

She doesn't mind.

She knows she'll give in someday.


End file.
